I want to commend @farinasteve, his BC First Responders Group, & a retired first responder & #SameHere🤙 Advocate, @beyondthebigredtruck for their #ShareItDontWearIt campaign.
You have to take note when the execution of a vitally important message is done so well – from the individuals they feature, to the words on their faces, to the campaign itself, this just nails it.
We’ve talked a lot about how life experiences we have a front row seat for, affect our MH…well so too is the MH of first responders affected when they see traumatic situations involving others – even outside their family/friends group – play out in front of them.
They are in that line of work bc they care about ppl. It’s in their fabric. They can’t just turn it off when they witness a catastrophe, go in a burning building, try to save someone in a life or death situation.
If they don’t “Share It” they very much do “Wear It” physically & emotionally – it stays with them. It beats them down. As our buddy NBA referee, Bob Delaney, says all the time to military groups – “you are selfless ppl…but I beg of you to be sel-FISH for 20 min a day to take care of your MH now, so you don’t pay for it as it accumulates down the road.”
Check out more of this campaign at: bcfirstrespondersmentalhealth.com. And I look forward to coming out & speaking w these brave men & women at their conference in the end of January.
One could fill several books discussing the importance of communication in the fire service. Communication is essential in any successful relationship. As a firefighter you will have many different types of relationships with different types of people.